Daily News | Fed Remarks and Interest Rate Fears Weigh on Global Equities, Crypto Prices Hold Steady, CFX Jumped 30% on Securing New Funding

2023-03-02, 02:13

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![](https://gimg2.gateimg.com/image/article/1677723175Thursday.jpg)

## Crypto Daily Digest: Crypto Prices Hold Steady as Global Equities Dip in Wake of Interest Rate Fears

Good morning, traders! Let's seize this wondrous Thursday relentlessly and make the most of it! 🚀

Investors in the US stock market are reevaluating their bets on peak interest rates following economic data indicating persistent inflationary pressures and hawkish statements from Federal Reserve officials. As a result, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 both closed lower, with Treasury yields remaining high. The Atlanta Fed's Raphael Bostic called for continued rate hikes, while Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari expressed concern that rate hikes aren't slowing down the services sector. Bonds in Europe also fell as evidence mounted for further tightening to counter inflation.

The impact of rising borrowing costs in the US is affecting markets worldwide, which are already struggling with inflationary pressures. Global stocks are expected to decline due to the anticipation of higher interest rates following hawkish remarks from Federal Reserve officials. Despite China's recovering economy, the US stock market is not strongly influenced by China's growth. The offshore yuan had its biggest gain since November against the dollar, and the Australian and New Zealand government bond yields rose by about 5 basis points.

Crypto prices were slightly up, with <a href="/price/bitcoin-btc" target="_blank" class="blog_inner_link">Bitcoin</a> (BTC) trading around $23,520 and Ether (ETH) trading up 3.2% to $1,660. Both coins have experienced a decrease in volatility and momentum over the past week, resulting in both cryptocurrencies trading in narrow ranges near their 20-day moving averages. <a href="/price/ethereum-eth" target="_blank" class="blog_inner_link">Ethereum</a>, the second largest network, has deployed a feature called "account abstraction" via a smart contract, which allows users to recover crypto if they lose private keys to their online wallet. This new standard, known as ERC-4337, can be used on all EVM chains and is expected to be integrated into the main protocol eventually. Account abstraction merges External Owned Accounts with Contract Accounts to create built-in mechanisms that allow users to keep access to their crypto.

On the other hand, crypto stocks such as Silvergate, Coinbase, Block, and MicroStrategy all dipped. Silvergate was down 2.7%, and KBW analysts downgraded the stock to market perform from outperform, citing "increasingly limited visibility" and changed its price target to $16 from $25. Silvergate is currently facing regulatory inquiries and investigations, including a US Justice Department probe related to its dealings with FTX and Alameda Research. Silvergate's shares fell as much as 25% following the announcement, and the bank has sold additional debt securities in January and February, warning that losses related to its securities portfolio could impair its ability to operate as a going concern.

## Topic of the Day: Chinese Blockchain Conflux Jumped 31% on Securing $10M Funding from DWF Labs

Conflux, a Layer 1 blockchain developer, has raised $10 million from DWF Labs to expand its technology and grow its user base. The investment was settled a few days ago, according to Conflux co-founder Fan Long. DWF Labs purchased CFX tokens from the project's team and foundation reserve, which will unlock linearly over time. Conflux plans to further expand its ecosystem around Hong Kong's new web3 policy with fresh capital in hand. The project has previously raised over $40 million, and the DWF Labs investment brings its total funding to date to more than $50 million.

Conflux is the only regulatory-compliant permissionless blockchain in China, according to Long, and the project's core research and development team is entirely Chinese. Its "Tree-graph" consensus algorithm allows it to achieve a capacity of 3,000 transactions per second with a confirmation time of 23 seconds while maintaining a high level of security. The network has been in the news lately for forming partnerships with China Telecom, the country's second-largest wireless carrier, and Little Red Book, China's version of Instagram. Over 300 platforms, brands, and IP parties have recognized, adopted, and strategically incorporated Conflux, said Long.

The news of DWF Labs' investment in Conflux has had a positive impact on the price of CFX, the project's native token. CFX gained as much as 31.3% before settling at 22.3% following the announcement. According to TradingView data, CFX was trading for $0.239 by 23:30 UTC. This surge in CFX's price may be attributed to the positive sentiment surrounding Conflux's expansion plans and the backing it has received from DWF Labs. The investment not only provides Conflux with the financial resources to expand its technology and user base but also demonstrates confidence in the project's future prospects.

## Conflux (CFX) $0.23617 (-1.10%) - Neutral Outlook

**Overview:**

- ***Closest daily support zone: 0.23000 - 0.21640***
- ***Closest daily resistance zone: 0.24515 - 0.25653***
- ***Key Level: 0.25000 (Monthly High of Jan. 2021)***

![](https://gimg2.gateimg.com/image/article/1677723140Untitled0302.png)

The announcement of new funding for CFX coincided with a general upswing in the entire cryptocurrency sector, meaning that the impact of the news itself was relatively minor compared to the overall market trend. However, it did help to reverse a short-term downward trend in CFX by causing the previous bearish candles to be invalidated as its price closed above the bearish golden zone of 0.22310 - 0.21640, and within a new bullish golden zone of 0.23216 - 0.25653 based on the latest bullish candlestick. Moving forward, in order to maintain its bullish momentum, CFX will need to close above a resistance zone of 0.24515 - 0.25000, and its short-term target (within approximately one week) is to retest its previous peak of 0.36669. Conversely, if it falls below the monthly level of 0.23000, CFX is likely to consolidate between 0.20760 - 0.24515 for a period of time, with the new critical bearish level being the weekly level of 0.18600.

**Daily Resistance zones**

1. 0.24515 - 0.25653
2. 0.26615 - 0.29045
3. 0.29710 - 0.34000

**Daily Support zones**

1. 0.23000 - 0.21640
2. 0.20760 - 0.18600
3. 0.17005 - 0.15020

<div class="blog-details-info">
<div>Author:** Peter L.**, Gate.io Researcher
<div class="info-tips">\*This article represents only the views of the researcher and does not constitute any investment suggestions.
<div>\*Gate.io reserves all rights to this article. Reposting of the article will be permitted provided Gate.io is referenced. In all cases, legal action will be taken due to copyright infringement.
</div>